Charles Fenno Hoffman
Charles Fenno Hoffman (February 7, 1806 - June 7, 1884) was an American poet, prose author, and editor associated with the Knickerbocker Group in New York. Life Overview Born in New York, the son of a lawyer, Hoffman was bred to the same profession, but early deserted it for literature. He wrote a successful novel, Greyslaer, and much verse, some of which displayed more lyrical power than any which had preceded it in America.John William Cousin, "Hoffman, Charles Fenno," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910, 193. Web, Jan. 27, 2018. Youth and education Hoffman was born in New York City on February 7, 1806, the son of New York Attorney General Josiah Ogden Hoffman and Maria (Fenno) (1781–1823), daughter of John Fenno). When 11 years old, his leg was crushed by a boating accident and had to be amputated. He attended New York University and Columbia College, and studied law with Harmanus Bleecker. Career He was admitted to the bar in 1827, but he practiced law only intermittently. In 1833, he led a group of other students in the Eucleian Society in establishing The Knickerbocker magazine, which he edited for the first 3 issues before passing duties on to Lewis Gaylord Clark.Pattee, Fred Lewis. The First Century of American Literature: 1770–1870. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, 1966: 493 In 1836, Park Benjamin, Sr. merged his New England Monthly Magazine with the American Monthly and hired Hoffman as editor, though he left to join the New York Mirror a year later.Bayless, Joy. Rufus Wilmot Griswold: Poe's Literary Executor. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1943: 28 Hoffman's 1st book was A Winter in the Far West (1835), recounting his travels as far west as St. Louis, Missouri. It was followed by Wild Scenes in Forest and Prairie (1837) based on actual experiences in search of health. He wrote a successful novel, Greyslaer (1840), based on the murder of Colonel Solomon P. Sharp by Jereboam O. Beauchamp, known as the Beauchamp-Sharp Tragedy — an event that several writers, including Thomas Holley Chivers and William Gilmore Simms, also fictionalized. Hoffman's version, however, had little in common with the true event.Barnes, Homer F. Charles Fenno Hoffman. New York: Columbia University Press, 1930: 124–125. Hoffman's fame rested chiefly upon his poems, collected in The Vigil of Faith (1842). Literary critic Rufus Wilmot Griswold that year dedicated twice as much space to Hoffman than any other author in his respected anthology The Poets and Poetry of America.Pattee, Fred Lewis. The First Century of American Literature: 1770–1870. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, 1966: 494. Griswold helped Hoffman publish The Echo, another collection of poetry, in 1844.Bayless, Joy. Rufus Wilmot Griswold: Poe's Literary Executor. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1943: 276. Hoffman was also popular for his songs. From a devoutly Lutheran family he nevertheless dealt with religious ideas in his writing from an inquisitive and open viewpoint. He became the editor of The New-York Book of Poetry, which 1st attributed A Visit from St. Nicholas to Clement Clarke Moore. Hoffman remained a successful editor and author throughout the 1840s. He officially began a new role as editor of The Literary World magazine on May 1, 1847.Miller, Perry. The Raven and the Whale: Poe, Melville, and the New York Literary Scene. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997 (first printed 1956): 203. ISBN 0-8018-5750-3 The weekly journal, which also included Evert Augustus Duyckinck and George Long Duyckinck, ceased publication in 1853.Callow, James T. Kindred Spirits: Knickerbocker Writers and American Artists, 1807–1855. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1967: 107. Insanity Under the strain of work, Hoffman went insane in 1849, supposedly after a servant used his manuscripts to start a fire. He was hospitalized briefly in April 1849 and, after his release, he accepted a position with the Department of State in Washington, D.C. By autumn, however, he was declared permanently insane.Bayless, Joy. Rufus Wilmot Griswold: Poe's Literary Executor. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1943, 149. He spent the last 35 years of his life in the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, then a state asylum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on land which later became part of Columbia University. It was at this state hospital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that Hoffman died on June 7, 1884.Ehrlich, Eugene & Gorton Carruth. The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982: 198. ISBN 0-19-503186-5 Publications Poetry *''The Vigil of Faith, and other poems''. New York & Philadelphia: S. Colman / Thomas Cowperthwaite, 1842. *''The Echo; or, Borrowed notes for home circulation''. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1844. Novel *''Greyslaer: A romance of the Mohawk''. New York: Harper, 1840. Non-fiction *''A Winter in the West; by a New-Yorker''. New York: Harper, 1835; London: R. Bentley, 1837?; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1970. *''Wild Scenes in Forest and Prairie'' York: Harper?, 1837; London: R. Bentley, 1839. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Charles Fenno Hoffman, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 27, 2018. See also *The Knickerbocker poets *List of U.S. poets References Notes External links ;Books * ;Audio / video * ;About *Hoffman genealogy, at the William L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan Category:1806 births Category:1884 deaths Category:19th-century American novelists Category:19th-century American poets Category:American lawyers Category:American magazine editors Category:American male novelists Charles Fenno Category:People from New York City Category:Songwriters from New York Category:19th-century journalists Category:19th-century poets Category:American poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Poets hospitalized for mental illness Category:Knickerbocker Group